This blog is dedicated to bringing World War II era documents to the general public, with an overall focus on armoured warfare.
Questions? Requests? Comments? Email me at tankarchives@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @Tank_Archives.

Pages

Sunday, 19 October 2014

Kazantsev's Tankettes

"Excerpt from the orders of the enemy 339th infantry division from July 8th, 1942 (data of the 339th division intelligence)

Russian bombs (land torpedoes)

Army Group South has seen the use of bombs, invented by engineer 3rd grade Kamertsev (according to prisoners). Data on their size differs widely. According to one prisoner, it is 3.5 meters long, another says 1.5. Width: 1-1.5 meters, height: 0.75-1.25 meters. The explosives load also varies, one prisoner said 150-200 kg, another said 200 kg.

The bomb is mounted on a small tank (tankette), moving at 20 kph, connected by three cables to a dug in BT tank, which is its source of energy. Each BT tank can release two bombs, remotely controlled, and moving in a zig-zag pattern. The cable is up to 5 km long. The bomb explodes when it reaches its target using a detonator. If the cables are hit and torn, the bomb will explode in 7.5 minutes. The prisoners mention that these bombs are unsatisfactory, and there were losses when cleaning up stuck or dud bombs."